One of my favorite all time French movies! Amelie is fun and upbeat but also has a lot of sad, wistful moments. The colors in the background are really strong and powerful. The background is almost a character itself in some ways.

Amelie is a waitress from a dysfunctional family. After her mother dies, her father becomes devoted to his garden gnome. In order to break him of this habit, she has a friend kidnap it and bring it with her around the world and send postcards home.

At the same time, she begins trying to do tiny, odd things to improve and influence the lives of her coworkers and neighbors. Very, very quirky but also very sweet and fun. I don’t know anyone who’s seen this who didn’t like it.

I originally saw this in the theater when it first came out. The dvd I got has an extra disc devoted to bonus material which might be boring if it’s the first time you’ve seen the movie, but if there are any devotees out there, you’ll love it.